Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Week in Review: October 20-26

I noticed last week I didn't snap as many photos as usual. I think I was recovering from my amazing trip to Spokane from the week before, where I resided at the Bozarth Mansion for a women's retreat. I think it took me a few days to come down from that high. You know, living the life of luxury, where the bathroom in my bridal suite was as big as the living room is in my current duplex residence. Stuff like that. Wearing happy socks, I would descend the grand staircase every morning, hot drink in hand, ready for a relaxing day of teaching & worship & the chit-chatter of friendly new faces. I lived a few days of freedom. Freedom from the responsibility of cooking & cleaning & helping with homework & picking up after people & refereeing arguments between tiny humans. Stuff like that.
But I'm back now. Renewed, refreshed, refereeing, picking up things...

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This Sunday at church the message was about forgiveness. I really needed to hear it. And this illustration was perfection: When you are doodling on an Etch-a-Sketch, what do you do when you mess up? You shake it until your drawing disappears, & then you start over, new. That's what it's like when you sin & you confess it to God: He shakes the Etch-a-Sketch of your life & you start over, new. (And bonus: He completely forgets your sin. He actually chooses to not remember what you've done.)
We all have that one big thing we've done, that we regret. We wish we could go back & change things. I know I have done a few of those big things. My friend, Julie, & I were just recently talking about "secrets". In fact, we had just eaten at Chipotle. (In Spokane. When I resided at the mansion. *sigh* The mansion...) And Chipotle has these cups printed with Cultivating Thoughts. Mine happened to be the Two-Minute Personality Test by Jonathan Safran Foer. The question I read aloud was this: "If your biggest secret became public, would you be forgiven?" We both chose not to share our biggest secret. I decided that if my secrets were made public I think I would be forgiven? Probably? But now Julie & I are just SO BEYOND curious as to what deep secret the other hides. haha!
There are no secrets when it comes to me & God. He knows everything. Like, EVERYTHING. But He still loves me & He for certain forgives me & He makes me new. Every day. Let me just say...this girl *points to self* gets shaken a lot.

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Last week I was schooled in the subject of Dr. Who. The 12-year old wants to start watching the show, since all her friends at school talk about it. She wants to see what it's all about, you know? And I am clueless about that whole world. So I went to the experts: my Facebook Dr. Who fans. And I was immediately informed that I should stop calling him "Dr. Who". It's "Doctor Who". It's apparently his name & not a title. I am such an idiot. And all the Whovians giggled behind my back. I know it. I just know they did. Because they told me they did. And then I was like, "Is this Doctor man the same person, only played by different actors over the series? (You know, like the James Bond character, portrayed by a number of different actors in several of the movies.) Or are they all related somehow?" Again, more giggling. And then I got this response (bold highlights are my addition): "No, silly. The Doctor is a Time Lord. He's from a race of aliens who mastered time & have regenerative powers, you nit-wit. When they 'die' they come back as someone else, dummyhead."
I have decided that Zoey & I should start at Season 1 (2005), with Chris Eccleston. I will be the mommy sensor, pre-watching the shows. I sure hope I like them. Because this will be some sort of awful self-torture if I don't.

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The family took a most amazing stroll by the river last Saturday afternoon. We wanted to take a walk in the morning, but I just couldn't be rushed. Lucky us, it's only a 5-minute drive from home. Our tree (our favorite spot to hang out at the river) was the most beautiful, happy yellow. The leaves are getting more awesome every day. She sits right by the water, next to her other tree friend. I snapped photos aplenty. And took many videos of Zoey. She's got this new YouTube account & I'm trying to play with video, learning a thing or two as we go along. It's quite funny to watch how she becomes a little bit of a character in front of the camera. Slightly animated, uninhibited. And when editing the videos, I am obsessed with making voices slo-mo. I crack up EVERY TIME. It never gets old.
On our walk, we oohed & aahed at the current art installation, about 50 yarn-bombed trees at Howard Amon Park. We found nature treasures, we threw rocks, we fed geese & they chased us & I screamed, we sipped hot drinks, we people-watched. And on a side note: when a big daddy person swings with his daughter in public? Cutest ever.
Saturdays are meant for lovely bouts of spontaneity such as this.

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The big girl had her first middle school orchestra concert. When her 6th grade group played, the teacher led them in their first piece. I listened, trying my hardest to find whatever rhythm they were on, but I just couldn't find it. Once I thought I found the melody. Nope, lost it. For the past couple weeks Zoey has been stressing out about the concert, saying, "Mom! We don't sound good at all!!!" She was right. They sounded horrible. It was a jarbly, garbly, mess of sound. I immediately felt embarrassed for them. I felt so uncomfortable. The song ended, the students rose & bowed. The audience awkwardly clapped. And then the teacher revealed that it was all a joke. PHEW! Like, I seriously breathed a giant PHEW! The man's hair in front of me acutally moved about from my breath. And then I was the loudest one in the audience, laughing. I was just so relieved. HAHA! (Zoey's statement earlier was all an act on her part.) Well played, you pranksters.

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Pazely & I were outside this weekend, looking at the mushrooms that have sprouted in our yard. And then suddenly I had the idea to paint faces on them. Just because. So we grabbed some supplies, & whatever tiny props we could find, & had the best time ever! The Mr. thinks we're nuts. But my Facebook & Instagram followers LOVED our creations. Check out our mushrooms HERE. At the end of the day, Pazely said, "I had so much fun!!" Is that all it takes? I like this girl.

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I will just say this, right now: November 2nd is going to be my newest favorite day. I am very much looking forward to that extra hour of sleep. Does anyone throw Daylight Savings Time Ends parties? Because I would totally go to that shindig.

2 comments:

My brother lives in Spokane at the moment! I have not been fortunate enough to visit him, but I think he is moving back to the Portland area soon. Your little get away sounded wonderful! Your post schooled me on the Doctor…ha ha! I recently used "Dr. Who" in one of my blog posts, but not even the hubby caught it. Are you enjoying the series? I love that you put faces on the mushrooms. Everything is cuter with faces :) Happy November!